


The Perfect Gift

by PageMage



Category: Infinity Train (Cartoon)
Genre: Best Friends to Lovers, Christmas, F/M, Gen, Holidays, Jesse and Nate being bros, Jesslake flirting, More than a year after the end of Book 2, My foster family au is back sorry I just like it, infinity train book 2, jesslake - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:40:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28477047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PageMage/pseuds/PageMage
Summary: Jesse can't decide what to get Lake for Christmas, so he goes to his little brother Nate for help.
Relationships: Jesse Cosay & Nate Cosay, Jesse Cosay/Lake | Mirror Tulip
Comments: 12
Kudos: 47





	The Perfect Gift

There were only three days left until Christmas, and Jesse still couldn’t find the perfect gift for his best friend. He’d been thinking it over all december but again and again met roadblocks. He couldn’t quite put it into words why he needed it to be perfect but, c’mon, it was _Lake_.

He’d scoured his mind all month, trying to figure out what to buy her. There was the black nail polish he knew she loved, but she already had some. Or there was that new bracelet he was thinking about, but she seemed really attached to hers from the train, so that was a no-go too. Eventually he gave up trying on his own, and went to Nate for help.

“Hey Nate,” he greeted, falling into the couch cushion next to his brother. He looked to be in the middle of a game, but as soon as Jesse sat down, he paused it. Nate was nice like that, always willing to stop whatever he was doing to give Jesse his full attention.

“Hi Jesse! What’s up?”

“Oh, I’m good. I was just gonna ask you for some help with Lake’s Christmas gift.”

“Isn’t she spending Christmas with her foster family this year?” 

Jesse nodded, trying to not look too down about that fact. He was still adjusting to her departure, since it had only happened in fall. Sometimes when they’d have family dinners, he would glance over, expecting to see her, and then feel empty when he didn’t.

It was a hard decision, her adoption, but it was made for the best. Lake needed her own family, with people like her that never had a normal one. Besides, the Cosays weren’t all that prepared for an additional family member out of the blue either, and it had been hard to provide for her. It still hurt to say goodbye, and it hurt that she was going to be missing this Christmas.

“Yeah, but I still wanna get her something. She doesn’t live that far away and I can bike.”

“Okay,” Nate adjusted his posture. “So, what are you thinking so far?”

Jesse hummed thoughtfully, tapping his fingers against the couch armrest. “Well, maybe some new boots? I think hers are getting kinda worn.”

“That sounds good.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know her shoe size so it would kinda be obvious if I asked.”

“Oh, you’re right. Okay lemme think.” Nate brought his hands together in front of his mouth, looking hilariously serious for an eleven year old. Then he swung his body around so that he was upside-down on the couch and his head was hanging off the seat. 

Jesse tilted his head to look at him, laughing. “Nate, what are you doing?”

“Haven’t you ever seen Charlotte’s web? The spider says she thinks of her best ideas upside down.”

“Huh,” Jesse nodded slowly. “Can’t argue with that logic.” Then he spun his own body so it was upside down too and began to think even harder. But in the middle of his serious pondering, Nate started laughing at him. Jesse turned to face his brother, and then broke into laughter himself. With their hair hanging upside down, both Cosay brothers looked ridiculous. The eldest brother reached a hand over and started ruffling his brother’s hair.

“Hey!” Nate laughed, fighting back with little excited bursts of laughter. Then messing up each other’s hair became tickling and by that time they’d both fallen to the floor from the hijinks. Eventually, Nate pushed Jesse away, wheezing for him to stop and being the (now) good older brother he was, he offered mercy. 

“So, any ideas?” Nate asked.

“Are you kidding? I have zero still.”

“Oh great! Cause I have one.”

Jesse sat up, and looked down at Nate. “Wait, seriously? The upside down thing worked?”

“Foolish Jesse, of course it did. It works every time, I promise.”

Jesse shook his head, “Learn something new every day, I guess. Anyway,” he reached down and shook Nate, garnering a few more pitchy laughs. “Tell me what your idea is!”

“Okay, okay stop!” Nate sat up against the couch base and fake cleared his throat. “You should ask Lake on a date.”

Jesse stopped cold, the grin on his face disappearing at once. “Wh- why would you think that?” he stammered, trying to hide the way he could feel his heart beat a little faster at the idea of actually going on a date with her. The truth was, he hadn’t considered making a move that way. Or considered asking her out at all, even if he secretly wanted to.

“Yeah,” he smiled obliviously. “Remember that one Christmas when dad got us all tickets to go see that new movie? You should do the same thing but just for you and Lake.”

“Oh…” he glanced to the side, trying to reclaim his chill.

“You think it’s a bad idea, don’t you?” Nate frowned. “Man, back to the drawing board I guess.” He hopped on the couch, inverting his body again.

“No, no, I think it’s a good idea.” Jesse leaned his head back so that he could sort of meet his brother’s eyes where he was sitting on the other couch cushion. “But like, where would you have in mind for this… hang out…”

“The date? Oh, well there’s this great restaurant I once passed by that looks like it has great grilled cheese and-”

“Hey Nate?” Jesse interrupted.

“Yeah?”

“Why do you keep calling it a date?”

Even upside down, Nate’s smile was teasing. “Cause you like Lake, right? I mean, that’s pretty clear to me. So a date would be a fun gift for Christmas!”

Jesse faced forward, lacing his fingers together. He wished he could hide the darkening of his cheeks. Was it that obvious? Maybe she knew too, if he was this transparent, even to Nate.

“Yeah, yeah… good gift…”

“Awesome!” Nate flipped right side up again, looking satisfied. 

“Thanks,” Jesse said, in a bit of a trance as he wandered back to his room.

“I’m glad I could help!”

\---

As soon as he spotted the numbers on her mailbox, he brought his bike to a stop, and took another breath as he kicked down the brake on his bike. The Christmas air was crisp on his face, but still not cold enough to cool down the nervous blush rising to the surface. 

This next step could change everything. He had no idea how Lake felt about him, but here he was anyway, with a Christmas gift that would throw the door to his feelings wide open. Not that it was ever shut to her, anyway. 

Lake and Jesse had been through the hardest experience of their lives together. It was the one solace Jesse held to when he realized that their bond was deeper than petty rejection. They would stay close no matter what, and he would make sure his feelings wouldn’t come in between that. But for now, he was hoping that hiding his feelings wouldn’t be the outcome.

“C’mon Jesse,” he whispered to himself, staring down at the small gift he held in both hands. “It’s not that hard, just walk up to her, and say Merry Christmas or something.”

Jesse wished he had her confidence. It was one of his favorite things about her, even though the majority of his thoughts focused on her good traits. Unfortunately, right now, it was his turn to have confidence. Jesse sucked in a breath, and then looked up.

 _But what if you’re wrong?_ His brain whispered conspiratorially. _What if she laughs in your face_ ? _You aren’t even strong enough to knock on the door_.

Jesse reached a hand to his head, feeling nauseous again. He took a glance at his bike. It wasn’t too late to turn back, to go back, be back in the mindset of trying to be casual every time they were together. He couldn’t lie to himself about how much he constantly wanted to take her hands in his, or be closer, just to _be_ closer. She was made of metal, yes, but some days it seemed like she was magnetic. With every laugh, or coy tease, the polarity only got stronger. It was getting harder to fight that feeling.

But he could still do it. It wasn’t too late to keep hiding. Jesse touched the handlebar of his bike, but then drew back. 

He drew back, because the handlebar was cold. Freezing, actually, to the touch. Exactly like _her_ hands were in the winter. He curled that outstretched hand into a determined fist.

Enough. Fear wasn’t going to keep him from being honest. He’d spent all that time on the train learning to be honest with who he was and what he said to others, and he wasn’t going to stop now.

Before he could change his mind _again,_ Jesse took off running towards her doorstep and rang the doorbell. Then he stepped back from the door and gripped the small gift in his hands. He kept nervously shifting from his right foot to his left foot, absolutely unprepared to see her but not running either. Not yet. Jesse took one last look back at his bike, but then the door swung open.

In the doorframe, was a tall, blonde girl who looked unamused to see him. “Yeah?” she greeted, rather rudely.

“Uhm, I’m here to see Lake, is she here?”

The girl nodded, and then closed the door on his face. Jesse hesitated, not sure how to react, but then he heard the girl calling for Lake inside. He heard her voice ask his name in response, which was apparently all it took for his blush to return full force. She was going to come to the door, where Jesse was standing at the too-small doorstep, and the light would illuminate his face and-

Oh wait a minute. It didn’t matter. He was literally going to ask her on a date, so hints to his feelings would be revealed soon enough anyway. Jesse still bit his lip, and then put on the biggest fake smile he could muster before she arrived.

The door swung open again with the same amount of force, but behind it was Lake, now. And she was smiling, if a little sarcastically. He noticed she was still wearing pyjamas- _oh duh, since it’s Christmas_ . Her pants had frogs on them, and she had on a familiar black shirt. Actually… _his_ old black shirt, if he wasn’t mistaken. Her short metallic hair, now chin length, was messy but beautiful. Everything about her was so casually beautiful, and he couldn’t tell if it was because he liked her so much or if she was just always like that. He probably should’ve said something like “hey” but he was too speechless to respond.

“Sorry, that was Kiley, she’s mad cause her ‘friend’ didn’t get her anything for Christmas,” she chuckled.

“O-oh. Well, not me.”

Lake looked confused. “You’re not mad? Or you didn’t get anything for your friends?”

“Oh, um, both! Wait, one of those,” he paused. This was not going well. Panicked, he thrust his hands holding the gift forward to her.

She smiled, and accepted the gift. “Hey, thanks! I hope you don’t mind that I forgot about yours.”

“Oh…” he looked down. Shoot. If she forgot about him, that would probably mean she wasn’t interested.

Lake started laughing, and Jesse looked up, shocked.

“Oh my gosh you look so crushed! I was joking, your gift is inside. Just get in here and stop looking like a little lost kitten, I can’t stand it.” She grabbed his hand and tugged him inside, shutting the door behind them. Then she started upstairs, still pulling him along. He was still staring at their hands, surprised that her hand wasn’t as cold as usual and that she was even holding it at all.

Jesse tripped up the stairs. He would’ve slammed his chin into the stairs, actually, if Lake hadn’t caught him in time. She must have felt him falling and yanked him up just in time, but in the process she’d landed them uncomfortably close on the same step, one of her arms wrapped around his middle. As soon as she was sure he was alright, Lake laughed awkwardly and drew her arms back.

Without another word from either of them, they took the rest of the stairs and entered Lake’s room. Well, Lake’s shared room. She’d complained enough about it for Jesse to know full well it was shared. Lake went immediately to one corner, and Jesse lingered by the door, still feeling fairly winded over the whole stair incident. He couldn’t tell if it was because he almost got seriously hurt or if it was her proximity. Apparently her magnetism had lingering effects, at least on his heart.

“So, I was going to give this to you earlier, but since you offered to bike over in subzero temperatures like a maniac just for Christmas, I waited.” She was holding a gift bag she’d retrieved from the corner and was carrying it and his gift in the same hand.

“S’not that cold out,” he noted. Jesse liked traditions.

“Mmhm,” she said, unconvinced. She took a disappointed look at the state of her room (which was, to say the least, calamitous), and closed the door so they could sit across from one another in the hallway. 

This was something they did often now. Lake hated cleaning her room, and the hallway had a nice carpet as opposed to the hardwood in the rooms. Plus, the hallway had good memories. It was a comforting middle ground when Lake moved out, and they’d already spent hours just sitting and talking, doing homework, or even playing card games there. Her foster siblings were not as thrilled over their habits, but the travel friends ignored them.

Now, Jesse realized another upside. The hallway made it so they had to face each other, and he could look at her without seeming to stare. _Okay, that’s creepy,_ he thought, glancing away. 

“Open yours first,” she said, throwing the gift at him. He barely caught it in time.

“Okay, okay,” he hesitated, then smiled, “Or maybe I should make you wait just a _little_ longer, just to-”

“I will literally open it for you,” she threatened. When Jesse raised an eyebrow, she sighed and stretched her arms forward, but he batted her arms away with a laugh. 

“I’m opening it, I am,” he said, and pulled the tissue paper out of the gift bag. Below was something plush looking, maybe a shirt? He pulled it out and gasped softly. It was a letterman jacket, the brand new edition his school was offering. Jesse ran his hands over the material, inspecting the jacket with reverent awe. It had different blue and yellow patches, and an even nicer collar than his old one. It was, without a doubt, the perfect gift.

“Lake, how did you… I wasn’t going to get this because they’re so expensive! How did you get the money?” He hugged it to his chest, eyes alight with wonder.

She shrugged against the wall, obviously smug. “I babysit sometimes.”

Jesse stared at her blankly. “You’re horrible with children.”

Lake waved a dismissive hand. “Pssh, that doesn’t matter. Anyway… now that you have this one, it means I can have your old one, right?”

Jesse rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “It’s not like you ever give it back anyway.”

“Hey,” she laughed, kicking his leg with her foot. “We share fifty-fifty custody, alright?”

“But I’m the owner,” he frowned.

“Not anymore,” she grinned wickedly. “Okay, my turn.”

Jesse’s heart rate skyrocketed. His best friend had eased him back into a sense of security, and he’d forgotten about the whole dumb plan. He reached out a hand to stop her, but she was already pulling the ribbon and opening up his gift. Jesse shut his eyes and gritted his teeth, preparing for the worst.

“Oh.” 

He opened one eye. Lake was staring down at the three objects in her hands: a rose and two tickets to ice skating. Then she looked back at him and he opened up his other eye, trying to not look too flustered (and failing).

“Is this…” she trailed off. A beat. Then Jesse finally let out a breath and brought his hand to the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Yeah. It’s a date.”

Lake laughed, but it was soft and warm, not mocking. “So, do I get to pick who I go with, or does it have to be you?”

Jesse felt his face contort uncomfortably again. “I mean, you don’t _have_ to go with me. I m- I mean that was the intention obviously, but-”

“Stop, stop.” Lake was staring at the ceiling, but brought her eyes back down to meet his with a small smile. “Calm down, Casanova, I want to go with you.”

He exhaled, looking down at the carpet to pick at it with his fingers. It felt like his nerves had just been dragged through a car wash or something “Really?”

“Yes, really.” They both stared at the ground for a moment. Then, Lake reached over and flicked his toe.

“Ow!” he yelped, reaching for his foot. “What was that for?”

“For picking the most cliche date ever. C’mon, Jesse, _ice skating?_ Where’s the creativity?”

“Ice skating is a classic!”

Lake scoffed. 

“Oh yeah? Where would _you_ choose, huh?” he challenged. He was happy that their usual banter was so quick to return, just as he’d always hoped.

“Battle of the bands and then a video game marathon. Without hesitation. Actually,” she tapped her chin, “for you we’d go to a haunted house because you’d be so jumpy and it would be hilarious.”  
  
“That’s not a date, that’s bullying,” he pouted.

She held up her pointer finger. “Hold on, I still have more ideas that are better than ice skating. First of all _roller_ blading because it isn’t as cold for your weak human skin, bike riding, paintball, laser tag, going downtown to that parking garage and throwing water balloons until we get kicked out… I have more, shall I go on?”

Jesse shook his head, incredulous but happy. “Wow. Looks like you’ve been thinking this through, huh?”

Lake was taken aback. “Wha- no! I just have good ideas!”

“Nooo no, you’re a secret romantic! I knew it! Ha ha! Deep down you’re just one big softy like me.”

“I am _not_!”

“You are too.”

“Am not!”

“Are too,” he leaned forward.

“Am. not.” She leaned too, grinning wickedly.

“You so _are_ ,” his back left the wall.

“Am n-”

“LAAAKE!” came a voice from downstairs. They both stopped where they were, frozen dangerously close and both red in the face. Jesse scooted back first, hastily. Things were moving _way_ too fast and he couldn’t even begin to process what had happened in the last five minutes. 

“Uh, I think your mom is calling-”

“LAKE WE NEED YOU!” a different voice called up, obviously Kiley, judging by the temper. Lake sighed and stood up, then reached a hand to him, which he took without thinking. But this time when they both stood up, she let go, and he could swear he noticed a change in her reflective skin tone. She nodded towards the stairs and they took them down to the foyer again. He felt like he’d just arrived, and now he was already getting rushed out the door.

At the entrance, Lake turned around to face him. “Thanks for the gift,” she said, an awkward tone lacing the words. 

He nodded in response, and then remembered, “Oh, thank you for yours!” He hugged the jacket to his chest. “I really love it.”

“Yeah well, I’m not such a bully all of the time.”

“But most of the time,” he snickered. 

She rolled her eyes, but the smile that remained on her face told a different story. Jesse still couldn’t believe that she’d agreed to the date. He would have to remember to thank Nate, after he figured out what to do with himself to prepare for said date.

“I’ll uh… see you? On…” she glanced at the tickets, “Friday.”

He smiled down at his feet. “Friday.”

“I still think a jacket is a better gift than a flower,” she smirked. “I guess I just win in gift giving this year,” she shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess you did.”

“Wait, you’re not even gonna fight me on that?”

“C’mon, I got the jacket _and_ the girl of my dreams.” The words came out without thinking, until what he’d said sunk into his brain. He immediately tried backtracking with “Er… I mean…” at the stunned look on her face, but he didn’t get far before she moved towards him. He thought she was going to flick him, but she pulled him into a hug instead. It wasn’t what he’d expected, so it was brief and sudden. Afterwards, they stood staring at each other for a bonus awkward moment.

“Umm, tell Nate I said Merry Christmas,” she said in a rush and then pulled the door open.

“Yep, okay. And uh-” the door closed before he could finish, and he spoke his last words to the air, “Merry Christmas to you too.”

Jesse stood there stunned for a few seconds. Then he smiled at the door, a smile that grew wider and wider as he turned towards his bike. It worked. It… worked? It worked! Jesse whooped, and danced on the doorstep, and then all the way to his bike. He would’ve danced on his bike home, if it were possible. His heart felt like it was bursting with light.

Best. Christmas. Ever.

**Author's Note:**

> Lake's date ideas may or may not be from a note on my phone... I'm a hopeless romantic ok!! Leave me alone.
> 
> This was pretty last minute as you can probably tell from the date, but better late than never!! I hope my readers consider it a last minute gift too ;)
> 
> This was originally gonna be a lot longer but then I realized how much it sucked after the first bit haha. C'est la vie! I like how it turned out.


End file.
